What Are We Really Building Here? Constructing a Kuti and a Community
By Sarah Conover
(Left to right, back) Karuna Buddhist Vihara bhikkhunis, Ayya Cittananda and Ayya Santussika; (front) Clear Mountain volunteers Louis Sweeny, Doug Robnett, Sarah Conover (with Helga the deva dog), Kay Peiris, Alan Peiris, Kirke Currier.
This September, a group from the Clear Mountain Community of Seattle arrived at Karuna Buddhist Vihara (KBV) in the Redwoods of California’s Santa Cruz mountains to build a new kuti in one week’s time.
For the last 13 years, KBV has been home to two bhikkhunis, Ayya Santusika and Ayya Cittananda. Since they hope to grow their community to include more monastics, first, they reasoned, more lodging was needed. And so the motto “if you build it, they will come” became the mantra and hope that fueled our volunteer building team’s enthusiasm that week.
Doug Robnett was the foreman and helped the ayyas design the 12′ by 16′ building. In addition to the main living space, it features a loft as well as a utility room to hold the batteries for eventual solar panels. Kay Peiris was up at 4 a.m. cooking for the crew, which allowed me, with my limited construction skills, to have a great learning experience on the building site. Doug and Ayya Cittananda managed to keep us Clear Mountaineers safe and cheerful. A few local lay practitioners from the KBV community also joined our team on a sunny afternoon.
Doug Robnett and Ayya Cittananda installing the floor joists.
Mid-week, the two Clear Mountain bhikkhus arrived to join in the building fun and to support their Dhamma sisters. Ajahn Kovilo, having previously worked for Habitat for Humanity and Americorps, surprised us with his construction skills. Ajahn Nisabho delighted in scrambling onto the roof and practicing his newly learned nail gun techniques.
Since we were at a monastery, other highlights of the week were two Dhamma teaching sessions, broadcast via Zoom from the vihara to the wider KBV community. It was a rare opportunity to hear the bhikkhunis and bhikkhus teaching together. (Here’s a link to one of those sessions: https://kbv.dharmaseed.org/talks/player/92854.html.)
Ajahns Kovilo and Nisabho supporting the effort.
In the first Zoom talk during our visit, Ayya Santusikka asked, “What are we really building?” Of course, we were building a kuti, she said, “but we were also building community among our small team, as well as helping to establish a wider community of Western monastics and a larger community for future practitioners who share in the teachings of the Buddha.”
Ayya further reflected, “The building of our practice is happening constantly to the degree that we turn our attention in that direction. And because we come together as people committed to building our practice, we have an opportunity to remind each other—and to be reminded—what we’re really in this for: development in the Dhamma.”
Being mindful, taking care of one another, and keeping our attention on what was happening around us at all times on the building site kept us safe. Right beneath the surface—as we broke bread together, worked cooperatively, and learned new skills—we each sensed the importance of what we were truly creating: something much more than a kuti.
When the Clear Mountain team departed, we had nearly achieved our goal of a new building “dried in” and ready for winter rains. Everything but the windows were installed, and Ayya Cittananda planned to complete that step with some more volunteer help soon after. There’s still much to do to make the new Viriya Kuti liveable. Anyone with the skills or eagerness to help would be most welcome.
What these two nuns have pioneered on their own is remarkable, and you can be sure that what we’re building together with them is much greater than an empty hut.
Author Sarah Conover is a member of the Clear Mountain Community, a Dhamma practitioner of 30-plus years, a writer, and an enthusiastic initiate to the world of carpentry.
What Are We Really Building Here? Constructing a Kuti and a Community
By Sarah Conover
This September, a group from the Clear Mountain Community of Seattle arrived at Karuna Buddhist Vihara (KBV) in the Redwoods of California’s Santa Cruz mountains to build a new kuti in one week’s time.
For the last 13 years, KBV has been home to two bhikkhunis, Ayya Santusika and Ayya Cittananda. Since they hope to grow their community to include more monastics, first, they reasoned, more lodging was needed. And so the motto “if you build it, they will come” became the mantra and hope that fueled our volunteer building team’s enthusiasm that week.
Doug Robnett was the foreman and helped the ayyas design the 12′ by 16′ building. In addition to the main living space, it features a loft as well as a utility room to hold the batteries for eventual solar panels. Kay Peiris was up at 4 a.m. cooking for the crew, which allowed me, with my limited construction skills, to have a great learning experience on the building site. Doug and Ayya Cittananda managed to keep us Clear Mountaineers safe and cheerful. A few local lay practitioners from the KBV community also joined our team on a sunny afternoon.
Mid-week, the two Clear Mountain bhikkhus arrived to join in the building fun and to support their Dhamma sisters. Ajahn Kovilo, having previously worked for Habitat for Humanity and Americorps, surprised us with his construction skills. Ajahn Nisabho delighted in scrambling onto the roof and practicing his newly learned nail gun techniques.
Since we were at a monastery, other highlights of the week were two Dhamma teaching sessions, broadcast via Zoom from the vihara to the wider KBV community. It was a rare opportunity to hear the bhikkhunis and bhikkhus teaching together. (Here’s a link to one of those sessions: https://kbv.dharmaseed.org/talks/player/92854.html.)
In the first Zoom talk during our visit, Ayya Santusikka asked, “What are we really building?” Of course, we were building a kuti, she said, “but we were also building community among our small team, as well as helping to establish a wider community of Western monastics and a larger community for future practitioners who share in the teachings of the Buddha.”
Ayya further reflected, “The building of our practice is happening constantly to the degree that we turn our attention in that direction. And because we come together as people committed to building our practice, we have an opportunity to remind each other—and to be reminded—what we’re really in this for: development in the Dhamma.”
Being mindful, taking care of one another, and keeping our attention on what was happening around us at all times on the building site kept us safe. Right beneath the surface—as we broke bread together, worked cooperatively, and learned new skills—we each sensed the importance of what we were truly creating: something much more than a kuti.
When the Clear Mountain team departed, we had nearly achieved our goal of a new building “dried in” and ready for winter rains. Everything but the windows were installed, and Ayya Cittananda planned to complete that step with some more volunteer help soon after. There’s still much to do to make the new Viriya Kuti liveable. Anyone with the skills or eagerness to help would be most welcome.
What these two nuns have pioneered on their own is remarkable, and you can be sure that what we’re building together with them is much greater than an empty hut.
To connect with Karuna Buddhist Vihara, visit their website (https://www.karunabv.org) and YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@karunabuddhistvihara).
Author Sarah Conover is a member of the Clear Mountain Community, a Dhamma practitioner of 30-plus years, a writer, and an enthusiastic initiate to the world of carpentry.